Understanding Situation Awareness in Multi-UAV Supervision: Effects of Environmental Complexity, Interface Design, and Human–AI Differences

Public Deposited
Analytics

Pre-print version of published work

Title
  • Understanding Situation Awareness in Multi-UAV Supervision: Effects of Environmental Complexity, Interface Design, and Human–AI Differences
Date modified
  • 03/24/2026
Creator
Abstract
  • Situation Awareness (SA) is paramount for successful multi-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) supervision, demanding operators to perform real-time cognitive integration of complex environmental dynamics and system states. However, most prior research has centered on system-oriented monitoring tasks, including tracking UAV positions and statuses, with comparatively limited attention to supporting users in interpreting environmental information from dynamic video feeds. To address this gap, we conducted a simulated wildfire monitoring study that systematically manipulated key environmental factors (e.g., target density, fire precedence) and interface factors (display layout and retrospective access). Building on these manipulations, we compared the performance of human operators and GPT-4o across object-specific (SPAM-based) and global (SAGAT-based) queries to assess their respective strengths. Our results revealed systematic patterns in human SA. Participants demonstrated significantly higher accuracy on object-specific tasks than on global queries, highlighting their strength in real-time perceptual processing and the challenges of memory-based reasoning. Across conditions, SA accuracy was lower at higher SA levels, under higher target density, and in the presence of event clustering, indicating increased perceptual and cognitive demands. At the same time, interface support in the form of centralized layouts and retrospective access demonstrated its effectiveness in mitigating cognitive load and enhancing SA accuracy. Our results also demonstrated complementary strengths between humans and GPT-4o, with GPT-4o outperforming human operators on global, pattern-based queries while humans outperformed GPT-4o in context-sensitive, object-level interpretation. These findings offer actionable insights for designing adaptive multi-UAV interfaces that support users’ cognitive constraints, enhance human–AI collaboration, and ultimately improve mission performance in dynamic and complex environments.
Administrative Note
Bibliographic citation
  • Jia, L., Alva, K. S., Li, H., Hager, W., Romero, L., Butler, T. A., & Lewis, M. (2026). Understanding Situation Awareness in Multi-UAV Supervision: Effects of Environmental Complexity, Interface Design, and Human–AI Differences. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1-23.
Date created
Keyword
Language
Publisher
Related url
Resource type
Rights notes
Rights statement
Source
  • International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Jia, Lesong, et al. Understanding Situation Awareness In Multi-uav Supervision: Effects of Environmental Complexity, Interface Design, and Human–ai Differences. Taylor & Francis. 1020. d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/generic_works/4db5aaf5-8b61-48e5-8cf0-36ea902773e2.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

J. Lesong, S. A. Kiran, L. Huao, H. Werner, R. Lucia, B. T. Albert, & L. Michael. (1020). Understanding Situation Awareness in Multi-UAV Supervision: Effects of Environmental Complexity, Interface Design, and Human–AI Differences. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/generic_works/4db5aaf5-8b61-48e5-8cf0-36ea902773e2

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Jia, Lesong, Shridhar Alva, Kiran, Li, Huao, Hager, Werner, Romero, Lucia, Butler, Timothy Albert, and Lewis, Michael. Understanding Situation Awareness In Multi-Uav Supervision: Effects of Environmental Complexity, Interface Design, and Human–ai Differences. Taylor & Francis. 1020. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/generic_works/4db5aaf5-8b61-48e5-8cf0-36ea902773e2.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

In Collection:
Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
User_Situation_Awareness_in_Multi_UAV_Supervision_FinalVersion.pdf User_Situation_Awareness_in_Multi_UAV_Supervision_FinalVersion.pdf 2026-03-23 Public Download